Easier Thought Than Done
by mondlering moofoot
Summary: Join Pim as she tries to bring together Phil and Keely - with allies, obstacles and enemies along the way.
1. Prologue

**_Spoilers:_ None.  
_Setting:_ 2005, with Phil of the Future still not back in the future.  
****_Assumptions:_ Pim can be very sweet when she wants to be. ;)  
_Shipping:_ Phil - Keely  
_Thank-You's:_ To fellow mates down at POTF Island. Thanks for encouraging me to put it up here!  
_Summary:_ Join Pim as she tries to bring two extremely close people together, through all the possible obstacles and hinderances.**

* * *

Prologue::Pim's Point of View

* * *

A quick peek at the clock told me the time. 5 minutes to five o'clock. I could hardly wait until Keely would get here. Man, had we got a surprise for her!!

I glanced at Phil. A surprise for him, as well. He was playing with the GameSphere, something that my dad found in the Time Machine a couple of days ago. He didn't know that Keely was coming, but he soon would.

What is this, you say, another crafty idea of mine?

Yes, it is, but this time, it isn't to take over the world.

I don't show it a lot actually, never but I love Phil, even though, sometimes he can be extremely dense.

Like now.

Idiot, he is.

I was watching him with Keely the other day. I was inside the house they were outside and I don't think they knew I was there. That goofy grin of his was pasted on his face, and Keely was looking back at him with a quirky smile on her lips, as well. They were chatting away, God knows about what I wasn't in earshot distance and at one period of time, he threw an arm around her.

I was surprised, sure, but Keely seemed used to it. In fact, she scooted closer to him and leaned into him, her head on his shoulder.

Phil had a female friend back in the future, too haha, doesn't that sound like that old movie? _Back to the Future_, wasn't it called? but the closest I had ever seen them was when they'd high-fived after a virtual football match.

_Hmmm._ I scooted closer to the window and stayed longer to see if anything happened. Any kissing, anything?

Nope. With a frown, I realised that they weren't together.

But they weren't just friends, either.

And since they were already half-way there, I thought I could just push them further.

Turns out, though, that it was easier thought than done.

* * *

_Please review! Please review! Please review!_


	2. Chapter 1

* * *

Chapter Two

* * *

The doorbell rang.

Pim heard the door opening right after the ring of the doorbell. She smiled. Ah, so it was Keely, after all. She never usually waited for someone to get the door opened for her since she was a frequent visitor.

"Hey!!" Keely called cheerfully as she entered the living room.

Phil turned around, his eyes wide. "Keely?"

_CRASH!_

Phil snapped his head around again. "Drat, lost a life," he muttered, furiously punching the buttons again.

Shaking her head, Keely looked at Pim. "Why'd you call?"

"You called?" Phil seemed unable to believe it. He was still facing the television set, however, so Pim could not be sure.

"Yeah, I got four tickets for this horror movie because I thought it would be great to see it, but Mom has horror-movie "issues" and Dad won't go because Mom won't go, so it'll only be Phil and me, and I'm calling a friend, so Phil could call a friend, too, and I thought it was obvious that he would call you, because you're his best friend and all, and - " Pim was going breathless. She had to say her excuse for inviting Keely over quickly before she forgot it all.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, okay, I got it," Keely said with a giggle. "Where's this friend of yours?"

Pim blinked. She bought it? Not believing her luck, she stammered slightly as she replied, "She'll - ah, she'll meet us there." And that part was true. Phoebe, a new friend from school, said that she'd meet all three of them at the theatre for the movie.

"All right, shall we go, then?" Keely said, clapping her hands together.

"Hang on," Phil said. A few beeps later, the words 'game saved' appeared on the screen. He turned around. "Yeah, let's go."

Keely went first, closely followed by Phil. But he paused at the door and waited for Pim to catch up. He frowned at her. "I know you're up to something, but I don't know what it is yet. Some thing tells me I'm not gonna like it - so I'm keeping my eye on you..." he warned.

Before his sister had time to react, however, he jogged to the front and caught up with Keely. Pim couldn't help a wide grin as she watched his arm take its usual place on her shoulder. Just a few seconds later, Keely laughed loudly, and Phil, in return, bore a wide grin on his face.

"Bro, trust me when I say that you'll definitely like this," she whispered to herself in voice filled with glee.

"Like what?" her mother questioned from behind her.

Pim stiffened. "Uh, nothing, mom - nothing," she replied quickly, breaking out into brisk, wide steps. "See you later!" she called, walking even faster to catch up with the other two.

* * *

Hope y'all liked it! If ya did, don't hesitate to drop a line or two! Even flames are appreciated. ;) 


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter Three

Crowded as the theatre was, Pim managed to spot four empty seats nearer to the front - two right in front of the first two, the arrangement that seemed perfect.

Quickly, she dashed toward the seats, and sat down on one of the seats behind. Her brother was tagging along behind her. He'd always reach out to grab her hand in crowded places, something she was very appreciative about. "Phil, sit there, before someone else can," she instructed. Phil, whose hand she was still holding, dropped it and plopped himself onto the seat in front.

Keely and Phoebe, a brunette, quickly placed themselves with their respective friends.

"Hey, Pim?" Phoebe whispered to her. "Why did you ask me to come along with you?"

Pim stared at her. Trustworthy enough? Deciding that she was, she leant closer to her. "I - " she glanced at Phil and Keely. "Okay, come with me, we'll buy some popcorn." Phoebe nodded in agreement, and Pim turned to the other two. "Someone sit in one of our seats while we go get some popcorn," she said.

Both nodded, and Keely, being the one sitting outside, sat in Pim's seat as they got up. "Get me salted!" she said.

"Okay."

As they left, Pim carefully highlighted her plan. When she finished, Phoebe was holding a tub of salted butter popcorn in her hands and she herself was holding another one in hers.

Phoebe frowned. "I don't think you should interfere in your brother's life like this," she commented.

Pim glared at her. "If you disagree with me, just watch them during the movie and tell me after that how you feel."

"Well - " Phoebe shrugged. "If that'll make you feel better, fine."

Pim smiled. "Alright, let's go."

The previews were going on when they entered. They scuttled towards their seats and Keely sat in the front again with Phil.

The lights of the theatre dimmed as the movie begun.

---------

It wasn't long before the first scare was introduced into the movie. Keely grabbed Phil's hand. Pim grinned and nudged her friend's ribs. She winced, but looked at Keely and Phil anyway.

They heard a loud _ahem_. Keely looked at Phil, and going red in a shade that was obvious even in the darkness of the theatre, she dropped his hand. They smiled awkwardly at each other and returned their gaze to the screen.

Pim covered her mouth and nose to muffle a snort.

Less than fifteen minutes later, Keely screamed. Phil reached out and took her hand in his. He waited for her to turn and look at him, and he then smiled. Pim noticed him squeeze her hand.

"Did you see that?" she whispered urgently towards Phoebe. She looked at her. The brunette grinned and nodded. "It's a wonder they aren't together yet," she said wryly.

"_Exactly_!!" Pim exclaimed, still in hushed tones. "They're taking too long!!"

Phoebe sighed. "You're right." She only hesitated for a moment before she answered. "All right. I'm in. I'll help ya."

Both of them shook hands in a deal, Pim beaming, and returned to the front - to watch both the movie and their new favourite would-be couple.

---------

The credits soon began to roll. Pim and Phoebe got up and went outside turning out to be the first two people out before they realised that the other two weren't out yet. They waited impatiently for them, and finally glimpsed them. Pim waved frantically until she got Phil's attention. Both of them moved towards them through the crowd.

"Where were you? I thought you were lost or something!" Phil demanded, glaring at Pim.

"Relax, Phil, I'm okay," she said.

"I'm relaxed!" Phil cried defensively. Keely snorted and he snapped around to look at her. "I'm relaxed!!" he repeated.

"Yes, I believe you," Pim said sarcastically. Keely laughed and nodded. "Hate to break it to ya, but you're not very good at acting," she told him. Pim nodded in agreement and slapped Keely's hand in a high-five, both giggling.

Phil _harrumph_ed and began to walk. Keely followed him. Phoebe wondered why she immediately followed him until she noticed. She gave a satisfied smile and shook Pim's shoulder.

Neither of them had let go of each other's hands throughout the rest of the movie.


	4. Chapter 3

"Pheebs, c'mon, hurry up! We might lose them!" Pim whined, tugging on Phoebe's hand.

"Oh, geez, Pim," grumbled Phoebe, reluctantly breaking out into a jog to catch up with Phil and Keely.

There was no interaction, however, much to the indignance of both matchmakers, and they climbed up the steps of the school sadly.

"Bye, Phil," Pim said with a wave, and just like she did everyday, she walked to the right corridor while Phil and Keely continued walking forward. She stayed there for no longer than a minute and with Phoebe, she rushed out and followed Phil and Keely.

"Oooh - " she began, but was soon cut off when someone stood right in front of her, blocking their view of them.

"You're Phil's little sister, aren't you?" said the girl, frowning at her.

Pim nodded. "Uh, yeah, Pim," she stuck out her hand.

The girl took it. "Tia," she said with a nod. She gave another upward nod towards her friends. "What were you doing?"

Pim stared at her, while Phoebe smiled at Tia. "I'm Phoebe." Tia greeted her and Phoebe continued, "We're trying to bring them together."

The beam that spread across Tia's face was immediate, and Pim was taken aback. Tia laughed. "Finally! I've been meaning to do it myself, but one person ain't enough, you see."

Pim grinned. "So you'll help us?"

"Oh, sure!" Tia's face reflected Pim's. "Besides, you two aren't in their classes, but I'm in with them in most of them."

Pim nodded. "Thanks!" She held out her hand again, and Tia took it once more. "Deal?" she said, repeating what she'd asked Phoebe just two days ago.

"Yeah, deal," Tia nodded. She let go of Pim's hand, and used her hand to give a mock salute. "See you!"

Phoebe watched her retreating back with a mischievious grin. "And now there're three."

-

Keely grabbed some books off the shelf of her locker. "Oof," she muttered. "Too heavy, too heavy..."

Phil noticed her dilemma and couldn't help but grin. It was what happened every Monday, thanks to the fact that their first few classes were in the other side of the building. He grabbed the first few books from her pile as usual without hesitation and set them on top of his own books.

"C'mon, we'd better get going," he said, cutting her off before she could say thanks. She frowned and began to walk while he did.

"Meanie," she said.

"You've said enough 'thank you's, thank you very much," Phil said jokingly.

"Haha," she commented sarcastically. She changed the topic. "You heard? Tia's joining our first class today. Her first class teacher's sick so she isn't coming today."

He coughed and Keely heard the muffled remnants of 'gossip'. She straightened her back in a dignified manner and said, "For your information, _Phil_, I got my info from Tia herself."

Phil laughed. "All right, all right - hey, Tia!" he said with a wave.

The grinning girl waited for them to approach her so that they could walk to class together.

"Hey guys," she greeted. "What's up?"

"Eh, not much," Phil said with a shrug.

"We watched a movie last Saturday!" said Keely.

"'We' as in...?" Tia asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Pim, her friend, Phil and me."

"You mean, Phil and _I_," Phil corrected.

Keely frowned and hit him on the head with her books. "Idiot." She looked back at Tia. "Horror movie. Man, was it it was _scary_ - "

" - yeah, so scary that she grabbed my arm billions of times!" Phil interrupted.

"Oh, right," Keely said, though her cheeks were going red, "That was _once_ - "

Phil cut her off again. "But you would've done it again if I hadn't taken your hand myself when you screamed."

Tia barely disguised a smile as she pretended to frown. "Well, you said that you said that you took her hand when she screamed - surely that means you were scared too?"

Phil opened and closed his mouth a few times, then finally closed it. "Girls always ganging up on me - I need more male friends," they vaguely heard him mumble.

"Oh, stop being - " Keely started.

" - so sore," Phil and Keely finished together. Phil sighed. "I know, I know." He flashed a joking smile at her. "We're getting late, come on."

"Okay," Tia said. They hurried to their class quickly. But at the entrance, Phil stopped and turned around. "But for punishment, you have to carry your own books into the classroom yourself," he said, his voice containing laughter as he placed the books he had taken back onto her pile of books. He walked into the classroom again.

"Philllll!" Keely whined, following him quickly.

Tia stood outside, staring blankly at Keely chasing after Phil as fast as she could though it wasn't very fast and Phil finally lifting all of Keely's books from her hands and carrying them to the table at the back, while Keely continued to protest, this time because of the lack of the load.

"Opens door means interested but with someone else...front cuts, back cuts, book-carrying - " Tia grinned widely as she entered the classroom. " - he's interested!"

Keely hugged him briefly before they sat down at the table and Tia was not very surprised about it.

"And so is she!" she giggled, walking towards the other two. "Pim and Phoebe are soooo gonna like this!" 


	5. Chapter 4

"I can't believe we're having a Christmas Dance this year!" Keely groaned.

Phil snorted and looked up at her from his homework. "Yes, something very nice to talk about while we're studying in the _library_." A glare from his friend told him that she wasn't kidding and he sighed. "What's wrong with having a Christmas Dance?"

"I don't know - for one thing, I may be one of the most popular girls in school, but - " she paused, stared at Phil, and flushed. "Never mind."

"Oh, come on, tell me!" Phil teased, pushing the chair closer towards the table. "I won't tell anyone!"

Keely grinned. "That's probably 'cause you don't have anyone else _to_ tell." He looked at her, offended, then she shook her head. "All right. Don't tell _anyone_ - " Phil nodded fervently and she had to smile again at his eagerness, " - but I, uhm, I can't dance."

His eyes widened. "What!" he cried.

"Shut up!" Keely said, waving her arms frantically. The glare and loud 'shhhh!' from the librarian went unnoticed as he stared at her, looking baffled. "You can't _dance_?"

She smiled sheepishly and looked down. "Guilty as charged."

"And - does anyone else know about this?" Phil asked. She shook her head. "Tia?" he tried again and once again she responded in the negative. "Whoa...why did you tell me, then?" he questioned.

She smiled up at him and reached for his hand. With a grin, he threaded his fingers through hers.

No reply was needed.

-

They were walking home together, in a discussion about the enraged tirade from the school librarian when they'd left the place, when it hit him. "Hey, I could teach you how to dance!"

"Wha - what?" she was caught off gaurd from the sudden change in topic.

"I could teach you dancing!" he repeated, a full-watt smile on his face. "I know how! Dance lessons were compulsary for Pim and I because our dad wanted us to be 'well-rounded'," he explained. She stared at him questioningly and he shook his head lightly. "Don't ask." She laughed and, pleased, he continued, "I could teach you how to dance!"

Keely shook her head slightly. "I don't know, Phil..."

"Come on, Keel! It's not like it can kill you or something!" He seemed so enthusiastic that she had to shrug.

"Okay, okay, _fine_," she gave in reluctantly. "But just so you know, I am _not_ happy about this."

"Oh, I know," Phil said with a laugh.

-

"Okay, Mom, Dad, gotta go!" he called as he hurried to the front door. "I'll be back by...I dunno, five or six-ish?"

"Hey, where're you going?" Pim asked as she tried to catch up with him.

"Over to Keely's. I'm gonna teach her how to - " he paused and shook his head. "Never mind. I promised I wouldn't tell!" He leant into her and whispered. "Not even Tia!" He left the house grinning widely, as was Pim.

-

He entered the house and, walking straight towards Keely's room, he waved to Keely's mom as he passed by the entrance of the kitchen. He placed both his hands on the door and knocked 'The Knock'.

"Come in, Phil!" Keely called. He opened the door and went inside. "Hey!" she greeted cheerfully, switching off the television in the room.

"Hi," he said back. He walked over to the VCR and pressed the eject button. "What were you watching?" He turned over the tape in his hands and smiled. "You kept it?"

"Of course I did," she said. "Why wouldn't I?"

He shrugged. "I just thought..." He shrugged again. "Ah, never mind."

She watched him silently for a moment. "I asked our teacher for the tape later that day. He told me that I have gem of a best friend there. And I agree," she said with a bright smile.

He returned it and set the tape on top of the tape-recorder and turned around. "All right, you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess," Keely said with a nervous smile. She hesitated in front of Phil. "I'll apologise in advance for the number of times I'll step on your foot."

"Ah," Phil shook his head and waved his arm in a not-caring manner. "You can't be that bad."

Boy, was he wrong.

-

"My toes hurt."

"I know! I'm sorry!"

"My toes hurt, and my arms hurt."

"Phil!"

"Ahh," he cried, and collapsed on the bed. Keely rushed up to him. "Sorry, sorry, sorry," she mumbled repeatedly.

"Hey," Phil said amusedly, pulling her up so that they were eye-to-eye. "You already apologised."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said, then clapped her hands to her mouth. "Oops. Sorry, sorry - "

"Oye, stop," he said with mock-irritation, and she smiled sheepishly.

"Sor - "

It was his turn to clap his hands to her mouth. "Shush."

"My God. I _do_ talk too much," she said laughing.

"Yep." He nodded in agreement. He got up and opened the door. "All right - so, ah, when's the Dance coming up, then?" He started walking to the front door and Keely followed close behind.

"This Saturday."

"Oh." He shook his head. "I don't think you'll be able to get this straight in three days," he said teasingly.

She nodded seriously, although she knew Phil was just kidding. "Hey - maybe you can go with me," she said, with a sudden flash of inspiration. "I'll try _extra_ hard not to step on your feet because you're worth the effort." She grinned widely.

"I was already planning on asking you," he said and grinned at her.

"So we're going together?" she said once they'd reached the door.

"Of course," he answered, and hugged her once. "Wouldn't have it any other way."

Mrs Teslow smiled when she heard the conversation in the background. It broke out into a more mischevious one soon enough. There was probably a group already backing it up, and she would love to be a part of it. 


	6. Chapter 5

"Hi," said Tia on the phone, and immediately burst with the latest news. "Seth's in."

Pim smiled and whispered excitedly, "That's great!" Phoebe, on the other end of the three-way call, agreed with her.

Pim walked into her room quietly and closed the door. Locking it, she leapt onto her bed. "Alright, so you two got any ideas?"

"Nope, nothing for now," Phoebe said.

"I got one!" Tia exclaimed. "I suggested a Christmas Ball this year since it's coming soon..."

"Oooh, not bad!" Phoebe said at once. "It's almost _definite_ that he'll ask her."

"Whatdya mean, _almost_!" Pim questioned, sounding mildly insulted. "It's _definitely_ definite! Phil likes her!"

"Likes who?" a new voice was introduced into the conversation.

"Uhhhh...who was that?" Phoebe asked hesitantly.

Pim gasped. "Oh no..."

"Who was it?"

"Oh no oh no oh no..."

The person cleared her throat. "Pim Ganza Diffy, tell me what you are doing and tell me now."

No one found the situation funny enough to laugh at Pim's ridiculous middle name. "Mrs Diffy!" Phoebe asked.

"Yeah," Pim said nervously. "Uh...let me start from the beginning?"

"Please," Barbara said promptly. The story began and finished, and in the end Barbara couldn't hold back a loud snort.

Tia chuckled. "So you agree with us too?"

"Oh, yeah!" she said with a laugh. "I don't know why I didn't do it sooner!"

They all laughed in agreement with her.

All four of them didn't hear a faint click in the background.

-

"Oh my God, oh my God," he muttered quickly under one breath. He looked nervous as he paced around the kitchen. He was thinking about the phonecall he'd just heard.

"Hey, dad," a cheerful voice greeted him as the back door slammed shut. Phil looked at his father worriedly. "What's wrong?"

"Wrong? No - nothing's wrong," Lloyd said nervously. "Nothing at all. Everything's fine."

His son stared at him and nodded slightly. "Alllll right," he said, disbelievingly. He set his bag on the table nearby and walked over to the fridge.

"How was school?" Lloyd started a little hesitantly, as if desperately trying to cover up.

"Was fine," he said shortly, drinking out of the carton. "I got a coupla assignments and I gotta hand 'em up soon. Keely's helping, though, so there shouldn't be much of a problem."

Lloyd nodded, inwardly wondering how there could be a problem if Keely herself was the problem. He tried to voice his opinion tactfully. "How're things with Keely?"

"Fine," he said, eyeing his father a little doubtfully. "Why?"

"Just...wanted to know," he said with a shrug.

"Oh." He sat down on one of the chairs and stared at the table top. "Maybe it's not all _fine_..." he started, trailing off.

"Mm-hmm?" Lloyd said with interest, nudging his chair closer to him.

"It's just," he began, then looked up at the older man. "Never mind." He shook his head and pushed himself off the seat. "I'll see ya later."

Lloyd simply stared at the retreating back of his son and wondered what was going on that he couldn't know.

Then he looked up at the framed group picture on the wall that they'd taken recently, and smiled slightly. The third girl in the photo smiled back at him, her arm around Phil and her head leaning on his shoulder. He, in turn, had his arm around her and his own head leant upon hers.

Perhaps there wasn't much need to wonder, after all. 


	7. Chapter 6

"How do I look?"

"Perfectly _fine_, Phil." She sighed and shook her head. "I can't believe I offered to help you out."

"Neither can I." He flashed a teasing grin at his sister then glanced at his watch. "I'd better go," he said. Pecking Pim on the top of her head, he turned around, grabbed his jacket and left.

"Bye mom, dad!" he yelled, and the door slammed shut behind him.

The remaining three of the family waited in the hall for the phone to ring anxiously. When it finally did, Barbara grabbed it and greeted, "hello?"

"She just left," was the short reply from the other end of the phone.

She smiled widely. "All right, thanks." She paused. "Begin plan, then?"

"Yep. Operation Pheely, commence."

-

"Did I tell you that you look...amazing?" Phil questioned, smiling shyly at his partner.

"Yep." Keely nodded and laughed. "But I like hearing it."

"Good. Don't think I'm gonna stop," he remarked, eliciting another giggle from her. "You're dancing pretty well, by the way," he said, a hint of pride in his voice.

"Yep!" She smiled. "Only stepped on your foot five times!"

"Who're you gonna thank?" he started expectingly.

"Hmm..." She made a show of thinking over it and he slapped her on the shoulder with mock-annoyance.

"_Look at them_," Tia said with a sigh. "They're too sweet," she added on the phone.

Pim on the other line agreed at once. Lloyd sighed irritatedly and said, "I'm sure that the extra info is appreciated. Now can we _please_ get somewhere?"

Tia gave an annoyed grunt but continued anyway. "Phil looks great, Pim, you did a fab job."

She grinned proudly. "Thank you - thank ya very much," she said and added a wink for the effect. Lloyd glared at her, however, and she shrunk back once more.

"Hey, hang on. What's Fred going over there for?" Tia started suddenly. She pulled Seth along with her when she strode a little closer to the couple and the approaching hottie of the school. "It looks like he's asking her to...dance." She winced slightly. Under any other circumstances she'd be jumping with joy for her friend, but at that moment, she couldn't help wanting Fred to leave.

Immediately.

Of course, she couldn't always get what she wanted.

She couldn't hear a word of what was going on, so she settled on reading their lips. From the looks of it, Fred was inviting Keely for a dance, and Phil, knowing Fred's reputation, was saying that it was okay with Keely went. He had failed to notice that even though Keely looked starry-eyed, it wasn't for Fred - it was for _him_.

_Stupid idiot_, Tia thought, furrowing her brow as Fred pulled Keely to the dance floor. _Stupid idiot_, she thought again, as she watched Phil staring at them as they went further and further away from him and deeper into the crowd of couples on the dance-floor.

_Stupid idiot_, she thought once more, though this time about a different person, as Fred leaned closer to Keely. She breathed out a loud sigh of relief when Keely simply turned her head so that Fred's lips met only her cheek.

"What? What's happening?" Pim asked anxiously, waiting for an update on what was going on.

Tia didn't reply and instead handed the phone to Seth, who was standing right beside her. Her eyes followed Fred and Keely right until Fred closed the door that he had just pushed Keely through.

Phil followed them immediately, his confident steps revealing only a bit of the anger he was feeling.

Seth and Tia were hot on his trail. The handphone had been turned off.

-

The last two arrived just in time to see Phil punching Fred square on the nose. Her gasp was drowned out by a pained yell from Fred. He mumbled a quick apology as he backed away, his face red with embarassment.

Tia and Seth backed into the shadows and watched.

Phil turned around and stared at Keely, who was already gazing at him with admiration, her jaw hanging open. There were streaks of tears on her face. His face broke out into a slow grin. "You okay?" he asked, pushing her jaw up to close her mouth.

She nodded, still staring at him. Then her mouth curved into a grin as well so that her face reflected his, and she threw her arms around him. "You were great," she whispered into his ear.

He tightened the hug as she continued, still softly. "I'm glad you were here."

He ran her fingers through her hair as he replied, "So am I." 


	8. Chapter 7

Phil reached home that night with a wide grin stretched over his features.

Barbara only looked mildly amused as she asked him why he was grinning.

He shrugged and just said, "The dance was actually pretty fun."

"And punching someone was fun, too?"

Phil's jaw dropped and he stared at his mother.

"Tia told me," she replied his unasked question and stepped closer to him. "Look, sweetie, I know it was only defensive, and under these certain circumstances, it's all right, but I don't want you to ever do it again, okay?"

He managed an embarassed nod and then sighed. "Sorry mum. I guess I let my emotions get the better of me, you know?"

She nodded. "Don't make a habit out of it." She nodded upwards at the stairs. "Now go, it's pretty late already."

He turned around and began walking up dejectedly. "And Phil?" she started again, her tone of voice lighter. He stopped but didn't face her again. "Great going," she said, grinning.

He spun around and beamed at her. Running down the steps he had already climbed, he hugged her and said, "You rock." Before she had time to react, he dashed up the stairs again, this time with a happier gait.

She laughed, and went to the kitchen where Lloyd was waiting for her.

-

"_Everyone_'s talking about it!" Tia said proudly, putting the tray down at the table where Phil, Keely and Seth were already sitting.

She was, however, greeted by two glares.

"Whaaaat?" she asked cluelessly, glancing at Seth for a heads-up. He shook his head.

"You told my _parents_ that I'd _punched_ someone at the dance!" Phil asked.

"And how did you know that, anyway?" Keely added, immediately at the aid of her best friend.

She blinked. How was she supposed to reply to that? Then she smiled. "I saw it!"

"Oh?" Phil questioned, leaning closer to her from across the table, his voice more dangerous. "And why were you there?"

"I was with this guy, and he wanted to show me something outside, and - "

Tia was cut off by Keely. "What else did you see?" she asked, almost urgently.

"Nothing else." She smiled innocently. "Why?"

Phil and Keely both reddened. "Nothing," they said in unison.

Tia's smile became more mischevious as she exchanged glances with Seth.

Nothing? Yeah, right.

-

"A new plan. That's what we need," Tia said on the phone to Pim.

"Yeah. And something that'll put them together - once and for all."

Both frowned in thought, when Pheobe, sitting next to Pim, interjected, grinning widely. "Got it."

-

They were both at the library again, this time researching for their history project that they had to do in pairs. They were sitting at the square table, both on the same side of it. She was leaning on him, and he was holding the book up in front of them so that they could both read. In front of them was a stack of more books.

There was a pained look on Marla's face as she realised that there were no more free tables around. With an irritated sigh, she set down the five books she had on the table in front of them. Tanner followed her, looking equally frustrated.

"hello, _Phil and Keely_," she said snootily, sitting down on a chair opposite Keely.

He put down the book, glaring at their new tablemates. Keely just gave a short and sharp greeting of 'hello' and propped up the book again.

Tanner and Marla, however, had different ideas.

"So you chose each other as partners?"

"Yes, Tanner, we did," Phil said briskly. He added, in his normal voice, "Keel, tu - " and was cut off when Keely turned the page like he wanted. He grinned.

"We didn't have a choice." Marla glanced, frowning, at Tanner.

Keely let out a soft, uninterested grunt, turning another page.

"How's English class?"

"Doesn't he see you during english classes?" Keely questioned. Phil snorted slightly.

"And both of us still see you, Tanner, when we're acting or something," Phil chipped in before either of them could butt in.

Tanner scowled. "Yeah. I remember your last performance." He made a face as he recalled the praises they'd gotten from the teacher.

Marla pushed the book a little nearer to the centre of the table as she leaned on it, smiling suddenly. "I heard you gave Fred a nice little punch on the nose."

Phil reddened. Keely laughed and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. "I thought it was sweet."

He only grew redder.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Marla commented, in a sickly voice.

Keely got up abruptly and turned to Phil. "Ya wanna go to my house? I can gaurantee that these people," she gestured towards the other two, "won't be there."

Phil seemed only too glad to agree. He got up and gathered the books, then turned to leave mediately. Keely sighed and nudged him, and with an identical sigh, Phil said, "Nice chatting with you all."

"I'd say that, but then I'd be lying," Tanner said with a sarcastic smile. Phil glanced at Keely, looking irritated and slightly disbelieving, as well. She nodded, grinned, and took some of the books off Phil's load. He smiled and left at once, and Keely followed after glaring at both of them.

As they left, Tanner and Marla's faces broke out into identical smiles. She got up and gave the brunette sitting a few tables away and thumbs-up.

Tia grinned in reply.

_Part I of plan - complete._


	9. Chapter 8

_Just a filler-in, really. Nothing to do with the plot. Just something to show that Keely **does **have feelings for Phil. Very light - not very explanatory and not very in depth, either.  
heh, I know what I said probably won't increase your willingness to read the story, but I'm just making sure you know it's not good before you read it. That way, if you don't like it - it's your fault._

* * *

"I'm not jealous," she told herself sternly. Her green eyes flicked to them again, and sighing, she turned to face away from them. "I'm not jealous," she repeated. "Nope. Not me." 

She glared at the wall in front of her, attempting to focus on something else. 'Oh, look!' she thought, 'Ants! Three of 'em.' With rather forced curiosity, she watched them climb slowly up the wall. And then she noticed that the three ants were walking in an odd formation - two walking quickly in the front, the other walking behind slowly.

She sympathised for the last ant. She knew how it felt. Almost subconciously, she glanced at Phil and annoying-what's-her-face talking a few feet away.

Keely was irritated at herself. What on earth was making her feel so..._urgh_ed? She knew she was being too dramatic.

She knew it was stupid.

She thought she knew it's stupid.

She closed her eyes and opened them again before the person in the back of her mind came into full focus - she knew who it would be, and it would do nothing to help her mood.

She sighed again. Maybe it's not really so stupid after all.

She let out another sigh, softer this time, leaning against the wall in front of her.

She knew that it was jealously. It was just the fact that she didn't want to admit it. Because admitting that would mean she liked him. Which wasn't true.

Right?

She growled. Confusing thoughts.

Irritating thoughts.

Irritating Phil.

"Argh!" she yelled suddenly, pushing herself off the wall - and colliding with someone. She felt strong arms around her, pulling her upright, and involuntarily, she turned red as she realised whose familiar grip it was.

"You okay, Keel?" he asked.

She turned around and smiled at him. "Uhm, yeah - yeah," she stammered, watching as his eyebrows furrowed with concern.

Irritating, but oh, so very cute Phil.

He smiled in reply. "If you're sure..."

She nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine." She grinned back at him. They stared at each other for a while, and she allowed herself to study his dimples and chocolate eyes. He finally cleared his throat and let go of her, his cheeks tinging a light pink. She fell back slightly at the sudden loss of support and leant against the locker, and she noticed fleetingly that he almost stepped in front to catch her again.

Her grin widened.

"So - uhm - what did she want?" she asked, nodding towards the girl who was walking away down the opposite side of the hall.

"Oh. Ah, she wanted to know about Seth. Y'know, his status and all." His flushed face held a quirky smile as he continued, "Can you believe she likes him?"

Her immense relief was hidden by a frown. "Don't be mean," she berated, nudging him as she stood up straight.

"Ouch. Fine, fine," he said. He began again, after flipping his imaginary long hair. "Oh my God! Like, just, _oh my God_! That's just, like, someone else to add to the list of girls who chase around Seth! The total must be like, a hundred and twenty!"

She couldn't contain a laugh. "You are very mean," she commented, giggling, walking down the hallway. "Come on, we should be going home by now. We still have loads to do."

He jogged to catch up with her. "You were laughing," he accused, his smile teasing, challenging.

"So I was. But you were the one being mean first," she argued.

He was quick in his reply. "Ah, yet you _encouraged_ my being mean by laughing."

"Yes, but I immediately told you you were wrong to be doing such things," she began, and continued to ramble.

It was during this friendly debate, this simple activity, that she noticed how his cheery smile could make her heart race, and how a simple brush of fingers made her shiver slightly.

Their studies at home were carried out normally, as well. But more than once, she found herself watching him keenly as he concentrated fully on the task at hand. And more than once, she found herself thinking things that should not be thought by a friend.

She had hugged him when he had to leave - far longer than she usually would, and for much more different reasons compared to why she would usually hug him.

It was all this that brought her to the conclusion - she was falling for her best friend.

Slowly, yes.

But very surely.

Tia would love to hear about this, she thought wryly as she waved goodbye to Phil later that evening.

* * *

_A ginormous thank-you to all who reviewed. The reviews were most of my encouragement - especially since after reading so many other - and better - stories around here, I felt rather...stupid about my story.  
But knowing that there **are** people who like my story makes me feel loads better.  
Thank you so, so much!  
And I know this wasn't one of my best chapters, but please review! Because judging by the reviews for this chapter, I might put up something like this again, except this time in Phil's point of view. If the response is mostly in the negative I'll probably give y'all a chapter more in line with the plot.  
Of course, I'm not ruling out the Phil's POV thing. So I might still put it up. But the point is that the next chapter is in your hands. ;)  
Sorry that the author's notes seem longer than the chapter itself. I can garauntee you all a longer chapter next time.  
Sorry again. _


	10. Chapter 9

"Hey, Keely!" Tia called, waving to get her friend's attention as she walked dazedly down the path in front of her house. She tightened her grip on the thick envelope nervously.

The blonde blinked twice before showing any real response. "Yeah?" She seemed to notice Tia only after a while, and then smiled suddenly. "Hey, Tia!"

Tia nodded, then frowned a little bit. "Are you okay?"

She seemed to hesitate before she replied, "I'll tell you later." She then smiled again, and added, "Nothing too big, anyway."

'_Right_,' Tia thought, watching Keely as her mind seemed to drift off again. "Uhm, hey," she restarted, "You know when Phil - " she noticed that Keely snapped back to attention at the sound of his name and smiled inwardly - " - had that, uh, date with the Mayor's daughter?"

"Alice? Yeah, I remember," Keely replied, looking slightly confused as to the sudden mention of the date that had happened over a year ago. "Why?"

She also remembered that she had hardly mentioned much to Tia - in fact, the only way Tia actually knew about it was because she had suggested, jokingly, 'karate-chopping a fly' that had landed on Phil's nose - only a week after the incident. His reply had also been teasing, 'Only if I get a dance afterwards,' adding a sly wink and a squeeze of her hand. Of course, Tia got neither head nor tail of this statement and said so. For this, Keely gave her a short summary of it all, rather slyly forgetting some of the unimportant details of the ''j' word' and the dance.

Tia still hadn't understood Phil's remark, but she kept quiet about it. And soon it was believed that Tia had forgotten about it as a whole - which, truthfully, she had.

Until Alice had met her after school that day. She had provided a much more in-depth explanation of the happenings, and pressed into Tia's hand copies of the pictures she had found in her camera the day after that - only saying that she wanted Keely and Phil to see it, and realise what they had.

Tia accepted it, feeling curious, and flipped through the pictures as soon as she had gotten the chance.

She was thoroughly satisfied with what she had found.

And she thought that Phil and Keely would rather enjoy her find, as well.

"Why?" Keely repeated, bringing Tia back to the present.

"Uhm," the brunette began, "Alice - she wanted me to give you this. You guys, I mean. You and Phil."

Keely took the envelope from the stammering girl suspiciously, as if it would explode any moment. Taking notice of this, Tia sighed. "Relax, Keely, it ain't a bomb."

She blushed, and snapped back immediately, "I know it isn't!" She examined it keenly and nodded to Tia, not taking her eyes away from it. "I'll go check this out."

"Yeah. Do that." Tia grinned as she walked away. It was only after she disappeared from view when she remembered she had forgotten to ask her what Keely had been thinking about at the beginning of their conversation. Sighing, she turned away, and thought resignedly, 'I guess it'll have to wait.'

* * *

They both stared at the envelope as it lay on his desk.

"Open it."

"No, you do it."

"No - " Phil let out a sigh. "This is ridiculous! It's just an envelope, for crying out loud!"

"We don't know what's inside," Keely reminded. "And Alice wasn't very happy with you the last time you talked to her."

"Yeah, well..." he trailed off and finally picked up the envelope, taking a deep breath. "I say we go for it."

"Fine." She shrugged.

There was a loud tear heard, followed by the ruffle of paper as he tore the envelope and took out the pictures.

"Hey - that's me," he observed as he looked at the first picture.

"Yeah, that is," she confirmed, leaning towards him to get a better look at it. She let out a gasp as she realised where that was from. "It's from your date with Alice!"

"But I thought you were taking pictures of both of us."

Keely blushed as she remembered what had actually happened. "Uhm, was I?" she lied, and quickly changed the subject. "It's a great picture of you."

He stared at her for a while, as though searching her, then smiled. "Thanks."

"N - no problem."

The next few pictures all included him with Alice, as Alice had given Keely the duty of taking photographs of the two of them throughout the evening. They looked through those fairly quickly.

"This one's of you."

"Oh, I didn't know that," she commented sarcastically, hitting him upside the head.

He laughed in reply and rubbed the back of his head. "Okay, okay..." He didn't take his eyes off the picture. "Who took it?"

"I gave the camera to Manny after a while," she explained.

"Oh." He glanced up at her, grinning slightly. She felt his gaze and looked up. Their eyes met and she smiled. "What?" she asked.

"What what?" he replied.

"What're you looking at me like that for?"

He looked down at the picture again quickly, breaking their eye contact. "You look..."

"Messy? Ugly? Terrible? Witchy? Horri - "

" - beautiful," he cut in, chuckling. He seemed to have just realised what he had said and tried to correct himself. "I mean - I - you - "

"Your eyes need checking," she said with a brief smile.

"What?" He scoffed. "Of course you're beautiful."

"Yeah, in this extremely bad shot of me looking totally and completely and without a doubt _messy_?" she argued.

"That just shows that you look great no matter what," he declared. They looked at each other simultaneously and their eyes met once more. Her breath caught in her throat and she opened her mouth to speak. "Phil - "

"Your mom wants to know if you're planning on staying over."

"What?" Keely questioned, turning around.

"Your mom wants to know if you're planning on staying over tonight," Pim repeated, leaning against the door she'd just opened. "She says it's okay because tomorrow's a Saturday."

Keely looked back at Phil as if asking if it was okay with him. He gave a half-smile and nodded.

"So I'll go tell her, then?"

"Yeah." Keely turned back to her. "Yeah, you can tell her I'm staying over."

"Okay." Pim smiled slightly and, without giving her usual wry comment about Phil, she left.

"That's odd - first time she didn't say anything bad about you," she said with a laugh. He nodded again wordlessly, looking down at the pictures and frowning in what looked like deep concentration.

"Phil - about what was happening - what we were - " she started hesitantly, only to be interrupted by him.

"You wanna see the rest of the pictures?" He held up the stack of photos in question abruptly.

She looked just a bit worried when she agreed.

_What was going on?_

* * *

_Okay - a new chapter. Well to tell the truth I was hardly very confident about this chapter - too mushy? too out-of-character? too unreal? But Mr.1080 convinced me to put it up, so...here it is.  
I'm planning on putting up another chapter after this that continues with this one - especially since I want Phil and Keely to look through some of the other pictures in the pile. The main reasons I've left it off like this are because I think this chapter is rather long as it is I think it's the longest I've written so far and also because I want to know what you guys think about where this small branch of the storyline is going. Yep.  
So I'd really appreciate it if you reviewed, and I really really appreciate all the reviews you've already sent. D  
Thanks,  
**-( moofoot**_


	11. Chapter 10

"Your ex-manager's pretty good at photo-taking," Phil said, breaking the short silence, sounding impressed. 

Keely smiled slightly. "He'd like to hear that." She suddenly perked up a little bit. "You think that'll earn me my job back?"

He shook his head, laughing. "Nope, don't think that'll work."

"Oh," she said disappointedly, leaning back into her chair again.

"Hey," he offered with a grin, "His loss." He watched her for her reaction.

"You think so?" At his earnest smile and eager nod, she giggled. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess so." She leant forward. "What picture were you looking at, anyway?" She took the pictures from him and, leaning back again, she continued looking through the pictures.

He watched her eyes as they sparkled and her smile as it widened. A wisp of hair moved across her face in the wind, and he resisted the urge to move it away, instead watching her as she did it herself.

He sighed mentally, looking away, and turned towards the pile of pictures he had already gone through lying on the table. He picked up a few and began to flip through them. Only after a while did he catch himself looking longer at the pictures with Keely in them.

He allowed himself the slighest of glances up at her.

There was something about her that no one else he knew had. Even one of her small smiles was enough to make him stop thinking straight. And her laugh...

He shook his head.

"What?" Keely asked suddenly. He looked up quickly. Had she been watching him? He began to shake his head again, automatically this time. "Nothing."

She smiled briefly and went back to what she was doing. He willed his heart to stop racing.

'I sound like a love-struck fool,' he thought reflectively, turning back towards the photos.

And he was.

He hadn't realised it while it had been happening, but there was no doubt now that he had fallen for her. Hard. It was crazy - one moment he had been watching her yelling at Tanner from across the room during drama class, and the next, he had found himself thinking, "I am so blind."

He had no idea of how he was going to leave when the time came. The century that had quickly become a part of him was allowing him to be a part of it, too. Those routinely walks to school with Keely, often accompanied by Tia, those classes that he had been forced to take up and ended up loving anyway, heck, even the enemies that he had never had a chance to really have at virtual schools were sometimes the most entertaining parts of his day.

It was crazy - but true.

"Phil."

"Mmm?" He replied distantly, staring at the desk.

"This one's of us." She leant a bit to the side so that their shoulders were touching and the photo was in both of their views.

It was a picture that had both of them in the shot, plus Alice, but they were nearly at the opposite sides. A normal picture, sure enough, of him dancing with his date while Keely stood near the table, but something about it made Phil study it more than he normally would have.

He smiled slightly in realisation and looked up. "We're looking at each other," he observed.

She nodded, looking pleased that he noticed. "Kind of odd, isn't it? That we're at the opposite ends of the room but we're looking at each other?"

He agreed. Their smiles widened as their eyes met. "Interesting," he said unnecessarily.

"We're both in the rest, too," she said, glancing down at the remaining pile. Her cheeks went a light pink.

"Are we?" Again an unnecessary question, but he said it anyway as he looked down at the other pictures. The first one caused him to grin. "This is from the - "

"Dance," she finished. "Yeah. The others are of the dance, too."

"But we didn't really dance much, did we?" he reminded. It was his turn to blush a bit. "More of hugging, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, I would," she said, giggling slightly. They looked through the rest of the pictures silently, her head resting on his shoulder.

"I liked it," he said suddenly, as he picked up one of the pictures and fingered it gently, rubbing his thumb over the top. He recalled that odd feeling of contentment he had felt at that moment.

"We look contented," she said, smiling, as if reading his thoughts. "As if...all was right with the world."

He was startled when it seemed as if she had read his thoughts, but he continued the conversation anyway. "Even though I might have to leave this century soon - leave you, that is," he clarified. "And even though we were in a public place, dancing in a room where we - I," he amended, "made a lot of mess."

She laughed. "And it was a school night and we still had a lot of homework to do," she reminded.

He chuckled slightly. "Yeah, that too."

"I liked it too," she admitted.

"We should do it again." he suggested. "Maybe a full dance this time?" He got up, bowing at the waist and offering her with his hand. "We don't have music, no fancy dresses, even though it's not like we really had fancy dresses then, but - "

" - I think that'd be...great," she cut in with a gentle smile, accepting his offer. As she wrapped an arm around his waist and draped the other over his shoulder, she laughed suddenly. "You do realise we're getting too cheesy for own good, right?"

He grinned. "Any complaints?" he whispered, pulling her slightly closer.

"Nope," she replied softly with a grin. "None at all."

* * *

"They look highly suspicious," Barbara whispered to her husband during dinner that night. She observed her son with his 'best friend', laughing, smiling, chatting as if they were the only people in the room. 

They had done it before, a lot, during the several dinners they'd had together, but somehow there seemed to be something different between them.

Oh, to know what had happened in the room tonight, she thought reflectively, sighing slightly. Pim claimed that she had walked in on them dancing when she'd called them for dinner - "if you call dancing hugging while moving around, that is" - but only the three of them would know for sure.

Never mind. Lloyd and herself had something up their sleeves that they'd been planning for a while now, and she couldn't wait to see what happened then.

* * *

_Firstly, a billion and one apologies for updating so late. I've had the **worst** case of writer's block you can imagine. ;) Of course, some people don't believe I had it, but it's true. :P  
I'm not happy about this chapter, really, because I did this while I was high on writer's block if that's possible, lol and the end result is a whole lot of cheese, mush, and out-of-characterness. I'd appreciate it, though, if someone reviewed about it to tell me what you guys think. :)  
Speaking of reviews, thank you for **all** of them! I certainly enjoyed reading all of them, and some of them more than others. :) It's helped a lot more than you'd believe. So thank you.  
Alright, then, I shall take your leave. Please, please, **please** gimme some reviews. You wouldn't like to see me begging, would you? ;)  
-- moofoot_


	12. Chapter 11

"Phil," she whispered, nudging him gently.

He grunted and rolled over on the floor, now face-down.

"Phil!" she repeated, shaking his shoulder.

"Mmmm?" he answered crossly, his voice muffled by the pillow, but still obviously a bit ticked that he'd been woken up.

"I need the toilet."

He sat up and turned around to face her. "You know where it is," he reminded. "You've only been there a million times during the two million times you've been here."

She looked a little embarassed.

"Oh, wait," he said suddenly, "It's too dark, isn't it?" He smiled briefly when she went red, knowing he'd hit the nail on the head.

She tried to defend herself. "I'm just a girl, Diffy!"

He shook his head. "First you make me sleep on the floor, now you wake me up at what, midnight?" He glanced at his watch it read 11:05, which was midnight for the early-to-bed Phil as he got up slowly and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Look, I told you that I would've slept on the floor - " Keely protested, looking guilty.

"Hey, hey, hey," he cut in, smiling - though somewhat tiredly - as he offered her his hand, "Just teasing. Relax." She took his hand nervously. "Really, I'm teasing," he assured, and pulled her up.

The trip to the bathroom was short, but still, when Keely left, she found Phil leaning against the wall with his eyes shut and mouth open. The gentle movement of his chest confirmed that he was asleep.

She smiling slightly at the sight and shook his shoulder. "You can sleep properly in your room," she whispered as he opened his eyes to stare blearily at her. "I'll even give you the bed."

"Thanks," he replied, grinning as much as he could in his sleepy state. They began to walk back and he continued, "You can stay on the bed. The floor's pretty comfortable."

"You'll only know after you wake up tomorrow morning," she said, "You're probably too sleepy to realise that your back's aching and your neck hurts and your leg is numb and - "

"Mmm, probably," he replied, chuckling when she stopped abruptly and glared at him, beginning to look guilty again. "Oh come on, Keel, you know I'm just teasing - "

"You keep saying that, I don't know if you're serious - "

"Do I_ sound_ serious, Keel?" he questioned challengingly, then stopped in his tracks, frowning, and grabbed her hand to bring her to a stop as well. "Did you hear that?"

"I hear you lying, if that's what you mean."

There was a shuffle, followed by a series of loud steps, in the background.

"I heard that, too." She looked at him. "Do you know who it could be?"

"No one's usually up at this time," he said, then glanced at her and smiled teasingly, "Including me."

"Phil - " He pressed his finger onto her lips and she shut up. She glanced down at his finger, looking surprised, but that went unnoticed by him as he scanned the place.

"It's getting louder. C'mon." Phil pulled her into the first room he saw.

Except he realised it wasn't much of a room when he stepped inside and pressed the first and only switch he saw a light switch - it was more of a closet, in fact. Nevertheless he pulled her in fully and closed the door. She stared at the small 'room' as he pressed his ear against the door.

"Uchaga!"

He sighed, realising the source of their fear was just their caveman pet. "Only Curtis," he told her, shaking his head. "Of all the times to wake up, he chooses now, and of all the things we choose to get scared of - " He placed his hand on the doorknob and attempted to turn it - but couldn't.

"Oh, great." He frustratedly shook the door and attempted to open it the normal way again - with the doorknob - although he knew it was pointless. He considered yelling and banging on the door, but then remembered that it no one else would be up, and Curtis, the only one awake, would probably misunderstand everything. Besides, there weren't any wallaberries in sight. Sighing again, he leant against the wall of the small cupboard.

He nodded resignedly at Keely, who was at the other end.

"I guess we're stuck here." He looked around the cupboard, which seemed just enough for him to stretch out fully on the floor. He frowned thoughtfully. "Strange - I don't remember coming across this closet before."

"Really?" She seemed to be forcing a smile onto her face; slowly, she leant against the wall.

He was still examining the walls, tapping a wooden panel somewhere on the wall. "Yeah..." He chuckled suddenly. "This is so weird. A 22nd century man with a 21st century girl, locked into a cupboard, with..." he trailed off, noticing Keely's pale face. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked, immediately concerned.

Her weak nod reminded him suddenly of her description of an incident that had happened over a year ago - her fainting in a lift that had faulted in her mother's office building. She had looked a bit sick for over a few more days after that, he recalled.

"A 21st century girl who's claustrophobic...oh good Lord," he muttered in realisation, just a split-second before Keely squeezed her eyes shut and slide down the wall, clutching her stomach and stopping when she sat on the floor. He stepped forward worriedly and crouched down so they were at eye-level.

"Keel," he whispered, and then, more panicked, he repeated, "Keely?"

"I'm...fine," she managed.

"No, you're not," he said with a frown. "You're sitting on the floor, holding your stomach, looking as white as a ghost. Look who's lying now."

She pried her eyes open to stare at him and he looked back at her knowingly. She shook her head. "Okay, fine, so it hurts - "

"I knew it!"

" - but there's nothing we can do about it, is there?" she finished, knitting her eyebrows slightly to glare at him. "So we'll just pretend I'm perfectly fine, and we'll wait for another seven hours until your parents wake up."

"It's a Saturday, Keely," he reminded, "No one in their right minds would get up at six in the morning on a Saturday."

"Are you saying my mum's crazy, then?"

"Are you changing the subject, then?" he retorted. She pouted as he studied her for a while. "Turn around," he instructed.

"What?"

"Turn around so your back's facing me."

She managed to get this done without getting up, although he noticed she was wincing. "Sorry," he said with an apologetic smile.

"Why're we doing this?" she asked incredulously as he pulled her up against him.

"You're cold already," he observed, noticing her shiver. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I didn't say I was." She avoided answering the question until her own was answered. "What're you doing?"

"When you're sitting down you see more of a place than you do standing up," he explained, "So it seems as if you're in a bigger place. Plus, now you can't see me, so there's one less person taking up the space."

She nodded. That sounded logical.

"Anyway, we're both warmer this way. Body warmth."

"Oh."

"Feeling better now?" he asked hopefully.

"Much. Thanks," she answered truthfully with a grateful smile. She reached up behind her and pulled his arms around her.

He coughed, thankful that she couldn't see his cheeks turn slightly pink. "Good."

They sat in comfortable silence for a short time, when she suddenly spoke up. "Have you noticed we've been put in these weird...situations a lot recently?"

"Like...?" he asked for elaboration, pulling her closer to see her better.

"There was...a lot of stuff. I can't explain it right. But it's very weird, don't you think?"

"Weird? I don't really get it, Keel," he said, frowning.

"And you call _me_ slow," she muttered, conveniently looking away from Phil when he turned to glare at her.

"Come on, give me an example," he probed.

"Eh..."

"Come on!" he repeated, his eyes sparkling with mischeif. He glanced up when he heard a small squeak and froze.

"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned, looking up at him curiously.

He leaned down slightly and whispered, "There's a BugCorder over there." Noticing her frown, he explained softly, "My dad invented it a couple of years ago...uhm..." he paused, clearly a little confused about the time issue. She shook her head, signifying that the time didn't matter, and he smiled slightly as he continued in a whisper. "It records everything above normal decibel level in a small room, and it has video feeds, too."

"Meaning..."

"It's bug-shaped thingy that records whatever we do or say, unless what we say is whispered. Like now."

"Oh." He looked at her, waiting for a reaction. "Oh! Are they spying on us?"

"Shhhh!" he breathed frustratedly. "Looks like it, doesn't it?"

She turned to look at it and he quickly stopped her by shaking his head very slightly. "Don't look. We'd look suspicious."

She scoffed as if to say 'as if we don't look suspicious already' but stopped moving. He nodded, satisfied. "We're gonna have to do something about it," he declared, still in a whisper, looking away from her as he frowned in thought.

"We could try stepping on it accidentally?" she suggested.

He looked up at her and smiled. "That'd be great! Uh..." he paused, "How are you now?"

"Huh?" she stared at him, obviously confused.

"How are you now?" he repeated, slightly louder this time. Their eyes met and he winked. She mouthed an 'oh!-kay' in sudden understanding.

"I'm better now. Much," she replied.

He nodded. "So could you get up now? I'm feeling kind of numb," he said with a wry smile.

"Oh! Oh, sure," she agreed, smiling sheepishly as she got up. They kept up their eye contact until Phil looked down at the ground - to finally 'notice' the bug. "There's a bug on the floor!"

"What?" By this time they were looking at each other again, and Phil was certain that only he noticed her slight, almost non-existant nod. She let out a short yelp and stepped backwards, stepping 'accidentally' on the small device.

He laughed as she quickly inspected her feet for any bug juice - or in that case, oil. He then blinked a couple of times at the remaining pieces of the bug and looked up at Keely again. "Was that what you meant?"

She still looked a bit disgusted as she studied the remnants of the bug. "What do _you_ mean?"

"Was that what you meant when you said that we've been in weird situations lately?"

She shrugged distractedly. "I guess."

He gazed absentmindedly at her. "You know, I think they're up to something."

"What?" she questioned keenly, frowning slightly. "What do you think they're up to?"

"Well, you're going to think this is stupid," he started, reddening considerably as he avoided looked at her. "But I think it's something to do with...us."

"Mmm?" she prodded, finally turning to look at him.

"Kind of...to get us..." he trailed off with a sheepish smile. "Together?"

She laughed. "You think so?" she asked dubiously.

"Yeah." He began to explain himself. "I mean, how could you explain all of the stuff that's happened to us these few weeks?"

"That's true."

"And Pim! I knew she was up to something from when we went to that horror movie together," he continued eagerly.

"Okay, Phil..."

"In fact, Tanner and Marla stopping by on us that day at the library was really out-of-character. Don't you remember that even you commented they were acting meaner and weirder than usual?"

"Yeah - "

"Our parents are acting strange. Especially mine. Even though," he admitted, "they were already strange..."

"You can stop now, you know that?" she interrupted with a grin. "Fine. I believe you."

"Oh." He returned her smile readily. "So what're we going to do?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't you think the question is_why_they're doing this in the first place?"

His smile reduced by a notch as he replied knowingly, "Is it that much of a mystery?"

"I can't _believe_ you _locked_ someone who's _claustrophobic_ into a _cupboard_!" Pim wailed exasperatedly.

"I can't believe you didn't tell us you were even _thinking_ about something like this!"

Lloyd and Barbara listened sheepishlyto Tia's sleepy but still irritated voice on the speakerphone. "To be fair, we didn't know she was claustrophobic."

"Sure, we go around publicising stuff like that," Tia snapped back at Mr Diffy. Pim nodded, glaring at her parents.

"Listen up, young ladies," Barbara said sharply. "I know we didn't really do anything to help, but I don't think we deserve so much of anger. From children who're _younger_ than us."

Lloyd agreed. "In short, any more smart comments from either of you and you won't be so smug anymore."

Pim shut up, still scowling, but Tia continued. "And the only way we could've even found out about anything that could've gone _well _about the whole thing was broken by them halfway through. Isn't that just wonderful?"

"I'm warning you - " Barbara started with a growl, only to be stopped by Lloyd.

Pim took over. "I think they know we're up to something, guys," she said, changing the topic slightly.

Tia snorted. "Them? Highly unlikely. The only person in the couple of them who's got pretty good brains is so smitten about Keely that he probably wouldn't notice, anyway."

The parents cracked smiles as they expressed their agreement, and Pim sighed. "No, I'm serious! There was a bit of silence before they talked and broke the BugCorder," she observed. She was almost certain that they'd noticed the bug and were discussing what to do about it.

"Look, Pim," Lloyd said, reaching out to pat her on the shoulder in what was probably supposed to be a reassuring action. "If they knew, they'd probably confront us, right?"

"Right..." she started doubtfully.

"Anyway, what could they do to us? No harm done," Barbara said with a grin. "We're helping them, aren't we?"

Pim sighed, knowing it was a lost case. She did know, however, that Keely was quite good at bearing grudges, and that half of what Tia said was right - Phil did have pretty good brains, and he could get quite scary when he used them well enough.

They might as well surrender.

* * *

_First off;the bugcorder being shaped like a bug, and being called a bug a lot? Seriously, to those who noticed: no pun intended!  
I think this must've been one of my worse chapters, and I'm not very certain about it at all. Still quite out-of-character, I think, but considerably less since the last chapter? Anyway, I posted it mainly because it's drafted most of the bridge between the last and next chapters. Plus I like a bit of the banter that Pheely have going on at the beginning of the chapter. The rest of it...it just doesn't do anything for me. I really think I can do better.  
But hey,you be the judge. :)  
To all the reviewers: thank you! A lot! You have no idea how much you encouraged me. And to those who wanted this up a few weeks ago: I'm sorry. But surely this extremely long and approximately 2386-word-long chapter will be good enough:P  
Well, they do say 'quality above quantity'. Hopefully this time it's equal. :P_


	13. Chapter 12

Both stared at each other as they stood in silence. Keely's cheeks were a light shade of red, Phil observed, when she finally began - or, at least, tried to speak.

"Is anyone in there?"

Phil and Keely spun around simultaneously. He cleared his throat before he called back, "Yeah, it's - it's us."

"What're you guys doing in there?" Pim called, pushing a key into the keyhole and unlocking the door. She obviously struggled with the door before she finally tugged it open. She was still in her pyjamas as she stared at them sleepily.

He smiled slightly at her then glanced fleetingly at his best friend. "Curtis pushed us in here," he lied smoothly.

"Oh. What were you doing out, anyway?" Pim asked, beginning to walk back to their rooms. Keely's light pink went to full-blown red and noticing this, she laughed. "Ho, problems with the dark, I bet."

Phil let out a full-hearted chuckle. "Nail right on the head, Pim," he confirmed, grinning teasingly at Keely. "Got me out of bed, too."

The older blonde frowned and slapped him on his shoulder. It was the first time she spoke since she left the cupboard whens she said, "Look, Phil, I _told _you - "

"Leave your couple spats for when you're alone, won't you?" Pim interrupted irritatedly, then smothered a smug smile as she added, "The make-up bits would probably be better in private." She watched her brother and 'friend' exchange glances, and before they had time to interfere, she continued, "See ya guys."

Blinking confusedly, they watched the door to her room slam shut.

------------------

The first thing Phil did when they reached his room was to grab the Wizrd. Keely looked on as he fiddled around with buttons, then screamed a couple of times later.

"Uhm - Phil," she started, wincing as he yelled once more for good measure, "What on _earth_ do you think you're doing?"

He grinned at her proudly. "My room is now officially soundproofed."

She giggled slightly. "Good, because I thought for a moment there you'd just turned crazy."

"Mm-hmm," he said, shaking his head as he joined her on the bed.

"It makes sense, you know. Built-up pressure from knowing your parents and sister and possibly friends had turned on you..."

He laughed, nudging her to bring her to stop. "You _do_ know that my friends areyour friends, right?"

"Right...oh, right..." she paled slightly. "You think Tia's in on this?"

"And Seth?" They stared at each other, then sighed in unision. "This is pathetic," he said with a shrug.

"You're right."

"I know I am," he said smugly, then grinned suddenly. "I think we should fight back."

"Oooh." Her lips twitched into a smile as well as their eyes met. "I think I maylike where you're going with this."

------------------

The next afternoon at lunch both Barbara and Lloyd noticed Phil and Keely were quieter than usual. Sure, they talked to each other, and to the rest of the Diffys, but not as much as they usually would.

"They're hiding something from us," Barbara thought, watching them keenly. At this moment Phil pushed forward his plate and announced, "I'm done."

"Already?" Keely asked incredulously. "Phil, you hardly ate!"

"Of course I did," he replied stubbornly.

"No you didn't! Did he, Mrs Diffy?" she insisted, glancing earnestly at her.

"Erm - " Mrs Diffy was at a loss of words - truth to be told she hadn't been paying much attention at all.

"Never mind," she said with a sigh, then turned back to her friend. "I've been watching you, and I noticed you barely touched your food. Now, you pick up that spoon and eat at _least_ a little bit more, or I'm feeding you."

Phil stared at her quietly until she threatened to move forwards and pick up the spoon. Hastily he resumed eating. Lloyd and Pim exchanged smiles as Barbara reddened considerably. She frowned at their hidden amusement and nudged Pim - once ("OUCH!"), twice ("OW!"), thrice ("OKAY!").

Pim got up immediately and said, holding her hip gingerly, "I need the bathroom."

Phil pretended to wince, as if ignoring the blatantly obvious fact that she only needed to go after his mother's 'secret' nudges. "Too much information!" he said, gesturing towards his food. Keely laughed, and when Pim turned away to go up the stairs she leaned in and whispered in his ear.

"She's gonna do something to our room now."

He smiled, and between his lips he forced a reply. "I know." He ate a few more spoonfuls and added, "But hey, that's what we want, right?"

She nodded, then glanced up at his parents. Immediately they looked away and she grinned. "They're looking at us again." She coughed and repeated, "Again."

"That's what we want, isn't it?" he repeated, chuckling slightly as his spoon fell to the plate with a loud _clang_. "C'mon, let's go up to our room now," he said loudly for both his parents to hear, then as if not even thinking about it, he pulled Keely's chair back. His hand clasped hers, tugged her up, and led her to the exit of the room.

"Pim! Leave the door open after you flush!" he yelled, laughing as Keely giggled. The Diffy parents glanced at each other, then hurriedly, Barbara pointed at their plates. "Put those in the sink before you go up," she instructed quickly, glancing upstairs as if looking through the ceiling and checking on Pim.

"It's Pim's turn today, remember?" he reminded, confused.

"Oh, is it?" she asked, frowning slightly. Darn it! For a robot she wasn't being very clever.

"Yes...you just changed our chore list last Friday." He had a small grin on his face. "Even Keely knows that."

She glanced at his friend and Keely nodded immediately, almost on cue. "Yes. I was there. Remember Mrs Diffy?" she questioned, almost too eagerly.

Her frown deepened. "Oh-kay..."

Pim stormed down the steps and opened the door wide to the dining room. "I feel relieved!"

"We're done eating but that doesn't mean we should be hearing this," Keely said with a sigh, and then turned to face Phil's mum. "Can we go up now? We've got some scripting to do."

"Scripting? About?" Now this was something new. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"It's just a project, Mom.. We're supposed to get something done in pairs, with a made-up script and acting and all..." Phil explained in as few words as possible. "For drama class."

"Oh."

There was a short silence and Phil finally nodded towards the stairs. "We'll be going now. Holler if ya need us," he added as he began climbing up the steps. Keely followed and they heard a giggle in the silence before his door slammed.

Two more seconds of silence - then they exploded.

"Pim, get to the dishes, Barb, clean up, I'll go check up on them," Lloyd said hastily.

"Oh no you don't, mister," Barbara reminded, pulling his sleeve before he got away.

Pim also looked very against the whole idea. "It's Phil's turn to do the dishes!"

"Is it?" Barbara glanced at Lloyd, who shrugged. Obviously recalling Keely's support of the idea, she sighed and took her son's side to get it done with. "Don't lie, dearie, and get the dishes done."

Pim growled. She knew this had something to do with them knowing about their Operation Pheely. Now, if only she could prove it...

------------------

They left again quickly after Phil got his hands on the InvisiSpray. She sprayed him with it, and he hurried into the room. He exited, the Wiz'rd blinking madly in his hand when came back into view. "Found it. On the lamp."

She glanced downstairs than peeked into the room. "The blue one?"

"Yeah, the blue one. It's right on the shade. And it's invisible. The Wiz'rd just detected a hole in the space in the room that wasn't made up of the normal composition of air."

"I completely understood that," she said with a nod, then sighed. "So we should do everything facing that?"

"Yeah, that'd be good."

"Okay." She took a deep breath, then giggled, pulled Phil in and slammed the door.

"How 'bout a futuristic thing?"

"You mean...something like someone getting trapped in the past while riding on a time-machine for vacation and having to stay there for a while?"

She grinned. "Yeah, precisely."

"I don't know..." a small beep (that he had programmed with the Wiz'rd) told them that the other Diffys had begun watching them from downstairs. Awkwardly, he continued, trying hard to forget that he was being observed. "With stuff like that and all, we'd probably do something or other that'll let slip that I'm from the future. Plus, there's my dad."

She joined him on the sentence with a laugh with the same words: "there's your dad." She smiled at their simultaneous speech and forced herself to look away from the accused lamp guiltily. Instead she looked straight at him and added, "If he found out we did something like that he'd probably drag us all the way to Europe."

"Make that Antartica," he corrected with a chuckle, then paused slightly, momentarily forgetting the presence of the camera. "Us?"

Keely had been fiddling around with her pen, writing random things on the piece of paper lying in front of her. "Hmm?" she asked absently, completing a tiny sketch of him with the last button on his cartoon-shirt.

"You said us." He reminded her. "He'd probably drag _us_ all the way..."

She grinned at him bashfully. "Did I?" He returned the grin, nodding, and she turned slightly red. "Tongue-slip."

"Mmhmm," he said, chuckling, tearing his eyes away from her and scanned the room. Suddenly realising they were still being recorded, he mentally pulled himself into check and began. "So what're we left with?"

"We could try something with action..." she noticed his eager nod and smiled. "Nah."

"_Keel_!" he cried, frowning. "That is _not _fair!"

"Yes it is." Without waiting for a further reply she continued. "How about a romance?"

He made a face and she laughed. "You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"

"No, I'm serious! That'd be a great play-thing. Like Romeo and Juliet of the future."

"Of the present," he corrected. "I'm Phil of the future because I'm from the future but Romeo and Juliet aren't from the future. And I'm not letting our project become sap, sorry."

"Ohkay." She sighed. "How about a romantic comedy?"

He sucked in air through his teeth, looking away. "A romantic comedy? Ah, Keel, I told you, nothing sappy."

"But it won't be!" she interjected, looking insulted. "Something sweet but still funny. With a lot of heart - sensitive, like."

"Like me?" he said hopefully, grinning at her suddenly.

"What're you talking about?" she said with a slight frown.

"'You're cute, funny and sensitive. Guide her to the curb!'" he quoted.

"Nothing about sweet in there," she reminded, and again, not waiting for a reply, she tore off a page in the notepad she was holding. "You have this one while I write on this one," she said, holding up her pad as she handed him the torn-off page.

"What a lot of space to 'unleash my creativity'," he said with a sigh, inspecting the cartoon of him on one of the page. He looked up again to notice she had already begun. Figuring he had no other choice, he grabbed a pen and sat down next to her on his bed.

She only glanced up at him when she was sure he wasn't looking.

------------------

"Nothing's happening," Pim said frustratedly. "I'm telling you, they know!"

"Don't be stupid," Lloyd chided, in the process spraying some donut crumbs on the table from his mouth. "Of course they don't."

"How would they?" Barbara added, cleaning up the mess on the table with a frown.

"They saw the BugCorder!" she cried. "They saw it and I know they did."

"Just because they haven't done anything special in half an hour doesn't mean they know."

"Mom - "

"Relax, Pim, they don't know."

The blonde glared at them, sat down with a huff, and bit off a bit of her donut with a vengeance.

"Look! Finally something!" Mr Diffy started suddenly, moving closer to the small computer screen. "What're they saying?"

"We'd hear it if you _stopped talking_." Barbara hit her husband slightly at the back of his head and stared at the screen.

------------------

"So then he moves closer."

"Like this?"

She looked up from the pad and noticed the lack of distance between them. "Mmhmm."

------------------

"They're doing something! They're doing something!"

"Shush!" Pim and Barbara chorused.

------------------

He half-smiled as he looked in her eyes. The message in them was loud and clear.

As soon as he could feel her breath on his skin his eyes closed - just after hers did.

------------------

"They aren't acting for us."

------------------

The music in her ears ceased as soon as she pulled away. Their eyes opened simultaneously and he bore into them, hoping she knew what he was thinking.

She did. She smiled.

"Still not keen for a romantic comedy?"

"I think I could work with it."

------------------

"They aren't acting for us," Pim repeated, watching as Phil reached for Keely again. "Oh my God, this is a good thing!"

"I told you they didn't know," Lloyd said triumphantly, high-fiving Barbara. "Man, if only we had popcorn."

------------------

"...and then they kissed!"

"What?" Tia gasped, staring at her. "Are you serious?" She was met by a brilliant smile. "Oh! Oh my gosh! Are you sure?"

"YES I'm sure! I have it on tape!" Pim said exasperatedly. "I'm not going to repeat it again and again!" she cried, pulling up her backpack strap.

Tia remained silent as they walked up the steps to the school. "What happened next?"

"I don't know. My mom told me to leave. 'Let them have their privacy!'" she mimicked, stifling her urge to growl. "I remember _she_ didn't leave any sooner."

"So what?" Tia asked suddenly. "Are they together?"

"We don't know, do we?" Pim said wryly, sighing. "He left before I woke up - plus my mum and dad didn't see him since he grabbed a pancake. At six in the morning."

"That early?" she whistled. "Wonder what they're doing right now..."

As they walked further down the hallways the sound of yelling slowly increased in volume. And as they neared the source of sounds, Tia realised whose voices they were.

------------------

"I can't believe you!" she exclaimed.

"What do you mean, you can't believe me!" Phil replied, glaring at her.

------------------

"This is not good!" Tia cried, joining the already growing group of students in the hallway.

"You _think_?" Pim nudged her slightly to get her brother back into view.

------------------

"What do _you_ mean, what you do mean you can't believe me?" Keely shot back. They gazed at each other heatedly and Phil hit his head with his hand frustratedly.

"I can't believe I let you kiss me," she said, frowning.

"_Excuse_ me?" Phil asked indignantly. "If I remember correctly, _you_ were the one who started dropping hints!"

"_Was_ I?"

"Yes, Miss FlirtyMcFlirtin'thingy."

"Uhm, whatever," she answered, turning around abruptly.

With a growl of irritation, he slammed the door to his locker. "Goodbye, Teslow."

She stalked away, her backpack open but hardly noticed. "Already gone, Diffy."

As they both went in separate ways, the crowd gradually dispersed, mumbling and whispering about the scene they'd witnessed.

Pim and Tia stared at each other, identical looks of 'something-went-wrong' on their faces. A few seconds later Tia sighed. "I'll try to think of something," she decided, nodding, then turned around. She caught a glimpse of three guys trying to help Keely with the books that'd fallen out of her backpack and she groaned. Obviously they wanted to be with Keely since she was finally not 'Phil's Property'.

_What on earth had happened?_

------------------

She rapped on the door like he'd done the night he'd come for advice on the whole Marla episode. Hearing the final two knocks of the sequence, she opened the door, stole inside, and closed it again.

"Hey," she whispered, walking near the centre of the seemingly empty room.

He came into view, materialising right in front of her. "Hi," he greeted with a smile. "Did they buy it?"

She grinned, holding up her open backpack with one hand, the other holding up some books. "Three guys tried to help me out when the books fell out," she said. "Nice idea, the leaving-the-backpack-open thing."

"Thank you," he said, chuckling. "And?"

"And," she continued, "Tia asked me what happened and I just told her to get lost."

"Did she ask about the kiss?" he asked knowingly, his eyes sparkling with unconcealed laughter.

She couldn't resist a snort. "I told her your kissing was _terrible_ and it could use some improvement."

"Oh, did you?" he asked, shaking his head. She nodded and he smiled. "I'll bet she believed that."

"Oh, yeah, she did," she said, smiling back at him. "She said she knew it." He looked insulted and her smile widened. "Kidding. She asked me if I was sick."

"I knew it," he said triumphantly, and she looked at him sceptically. He changed the subject quickly. "Did anyone see you coming in here? Does everyone think we're not 'together'?"

"We're all clear, Phil," she reported. She patted his back, leaning forwards slightly. "Your acting's really improved."

"Yeah, I really thought you hated me," he commented,obviously that being his twisted way of giving a compliment.

"Thanks." She paused, zipping up her bag, and looked up at him again. "What lessons do we have together again?"

"History, bio, english," he answered, ticking the subjects off his fingers. "And there's lunch."

"So we have to act angry throughout all of these?" she asked, frowning. "That is tough."

"Tell me about it. All a price to pay, I guess, if we want to get back at them." They looked at each other and let out deep breaths simultaneously. "We need to be able to talk more," he observed, looking away and biting his lip. "But where?"

"Whatdya mean?"

"We can't talk in school, for reasons even you'd know - " he ignored her cry of "hey!" - " - we can't talk at home, because everyone there's conspiring against us, and we can't talk in your house because chances are your mum's in this too and we can't take chances...what're we left with?"

"There's this small coffee shop a good walk away from here. Chances are no one we know'll come across us there," she offered after a moment of thought. As soon as she finished the bell rang, and Phil nodded in agreement, stepping forward. "Sounds good to me," he said, kissing her on the cheek quickly before propping up his bookbag. "See you after school here?"

She nodded, smiling brightly, and quickly took out her own can of InvisiSpray that they had replicated that morning. She sprayed herself, and, invisible, she slipped out of the cupboard along with Phil. He saluted her - or where he thought she'd be - and hurried off to class. She waited for a second before turning visible, spun around, and walked off in the opposite direction again.

The bell rang the second time and their school day began.


End file.
